In every industry, there is endless data to collect and apply to sales and marketing, all in the hopes of converting consumers to customers. Marketing strategies and campaigns, again, in any industry, can tailor this data to help drive its users down the correct path. Through all of its uses however, marketing strategies have the most in common with the goals attributed to the automotive industry. Let’s explain that a little further. This strength over any other industry comes from both the industry itself as well as the consumer. Today’s automotive shopper, almost entirely, has prepared and pre-shopped before ever stepping foot into the dealership. In doing so, this consumer has filled out forms, had discussions with sales personnel over the phone and through email, etc. All of this has a function, and this works to create a profile of the who, what, where, when, and why for the automotive consumer. And in doing this, there are factors that begin to appear, and they create the formula providing the automotive industry with a leg up above any other market. There are three specific factors stand out more than any other.

• Automotive dealerships know and are able to target a specific geographical location. Unlike businesses who are forced to target large areas of the country, multiple states, or regions, dealerships are able to excel because they know their target market’s location. Utilizing this data allows the dealership the ability to create strategic marketing campaigns that have a more personal impact on the consumer. For example, if a marketing campaign is based around the beach and sunny weather, this campaign cannot go out to consumers in Northern Minnesota. This is the downfall when other industries target market their prospective buyers. However, in the dealership market, knowing the exact location of the consumers your directing campaigns towards allows for a greater width when it comes to marketing and sales strategies. No matter what industry you’re in, a targeted geographic area will always help to focus the campaign, finding the correct niche to succeed.
• Dealerships have the ability to target specific demographics based on types of vehicles. With the large amount of data provided to dealerships about leads and their interests, demographical data begins to form. This data knowledge allows the dealership the ability to better understand what types of vehicles the consumers in their area are most interested in, allowing for more specific campaigns. For example, if the dealership is focusing on getting more luxury vehicles off of the lot, this data provided by the consumer already can be modified to create marketing strategies based on the wants/needs of luxury vehicle drivers. OEM’s have long been able to create and target certain vehicles for certain types of consumers, and dealerships have this ability as well. Essentially it allows the dealership to create a “brand” for types of vehicles, which consumers can fit into themselves. A dealership that can establish a common interest with the consumer has the ability create a greater number of leads, much more than those who targeting blindly.
• Dealerships know the optimal income level for their prime consumers. Through a multitude of sources, such as previous purchases, forms filled out, etc., dealerships can utilize income data to target specific income customers. Dealerships already utilize the knowledge of how the ranges of incomes work best for what vehicles, and in adding more data to the equation it allows the dealership to focus attention on specific campaigns. This will always result in greater and more definitive results. Without the knowledge of income level, or at the very least an income range, dealerships’ ROI is fluctuated and false, no matter how strong the campaign appears.

A more data-derived and targeted approach of marketing towards prospects will increase the ROI of all marketing campaigns. The key attribute to this success is the data though. One such factor in creating this data is the CRM that the dealership utilizes. Products such asCRMSuite’s CRM feature has the ability to not only create the desired data, but also the ability to use social media and artificial intelligence to fill out the entire profile. This combination creates a proven success rate in creating a full customer and lead profile, allowing dealerships the chance to market more efficiently, and selling more cars month after month.

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Aubrey Hankins serves as Social Media Marketing Director for CRMSuite, a software company providing dealerships with industry leading, technologically advanced CRM Software. With almost 10 years of marketing and social media experience, he brings a wealth of informative automotive discussion and debate, all in order to help dealers sell more cars.